Practice fundamentals
Buy two blocks before you buy anything else
4 min read · Updated July 28, 2026
The short answer
Two foam blocks are the entire first-year shopping list for yoga: they bring the floor closer and fix most beginner complaints about hamstrings, wrists and lower back. A strap comes second, and a dressing-gown cord substitutes fine. Mats matter less than marketing suggests, and bolsters can wait until a teacher recommends one.
Why are blocks the only essential purchase?
Two foam blocks. That is the whole shopping list for the first year, and they will do more for your practice than any mat costing more than a modest dinner.
Blocks bring the floor closer. Almost every complaint a beginner has — hamstrings, wrists, lower back in forward folds — is partly a complaint about the floor being further away than their body can currently reach.
Props also make practice workable around a diagnosis or old injury — please consult your doctor or physiotherapist about what your body is ready for before working around pain.
What comes after blocks, and when?
A strap is the second purchase, and a dressing-gown cord does the job perfectly until you are certain.
Mats matter less than the internet suggests, with one exception: if you sweat, grip is the only specification that counts. Everything else is thickness preference.
Do not buy a bolster until a teacher has told you to. They are expensive, bulky, and two folded blankets are genuinely as good for the first few years.
What about clothing?
Wear something you can be upside down in without adjusting. That is the entire clothing guide.
References
- IYNAUS (2025). Iyengar Yoga National Association of the US. Supports: Prop methodology originating in the Iyengar tradition. Accessed July 25, 2026.
- NCCIH (2023). NIH NCCIH. Supports: Adaptation and prop use for safe practice. Accessed July 25, 2026.
- Swain TA, McGwin G (2016). Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Supports: Overreaching injuries that props mitigate. Accessed July 25, 2026.
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